A man kidnapped a child in the greater area of Ljubljana holding it for ransom. He was tracked down by the police at around midnight, while the child, unofficially a 15-month-old girl, was found by the roadside on the outskirts of Ljubljana.
The child was taken to the Ljubljana UKC hospital, where she was reportedly treated for dehydration, but hospital sources confirmed for the STA that the child was discharged from the hospital today.
The crime investigators were visibly shocked by the circumstances in which they found the child and were offered counselling, deputy chief of criminal police administration Marjan Fank told reporters in Ljubljana.Fank would not go into details, but he said that considering the circumstances of the crime and the level of risk to the child, police had prevented the worst. The abductor faces up to 10 years in prison.
A large scale police operation was launched as soon a a report came in that a masked man took away a child in a car demanding ransom.It was ascertained that the abduction had been well planned and the child was at risk, which is why reinforcements had been called in, including a special police unit, negotiators and a helicopter unit.The police would not give further details quoting concerns for the child's safety and interests of the investigation.According to local web news sites, the abductor kidnapped a 15-month-old girl in the area of Kamnik to extort the payment of a debt amounting to EUR 20,000.
These reports allege that the child's family had moved to Slovenia from Macedonia a few years ago and they were trading in metals while the abductor was their business partner.Radio Slovenija reported that the child had been abducted while being looked after by a baby-sitter.
Source: THE SLOVENIA TIMES
